OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors slowly paced past the Brooklyn Nets 112-95 on Saturday, becoming the first NBA team to clinch a playoff berth in the process.
Though they were lacking the services of Kevin Durant (out with a left-pinky contusion, suffered in Thursday's victory over the Los Angeles Clippers), the talent chasm between these squads was still too vast. This might not have been the best of Warriors efforts, but it was more than sufficient as they improved to 49-9 while sending the Nets to 9-49.
Rookie Patrick McCaw was called into starting action as Golden State took a different shape. These games are suboptimal, but they also present opportunities. McCaw did well in his role, particularly during a third-quarter run. He created two turnovers, twice by blocking Joe Harris. One was a dramatic, above-rim rejection and the other a two-handed, backpedaling wrench-away in transition.
Perhaps because Durant was out, the Warriors began with Stephen Curry running more pick-and-rolls than usual (his first two 3-pointers were set up by Zaza Pachulia screens). Though Curry started out hot with 13 first-quarter points, he cooled off down the stretch and finished with 27 points on 21 shots.
Curiously, Draymond Green did not close the first half, despite having only one foul. Instead, James Michael McAdoo got those minutes, wherein he converted a couple of buckets. Andre Iguodala and Curry ended the second quarter in style, with Iguodala feinting right before whipping the pass to the left, across the court behind a streaking Zaza Pachulia, for what became a Curry 4-point play.
“I’m always looking for somebody to cut to the basket,” Iguodala explained of how he orchestrated that play. “As soon as somebody cuts to the basket, he takes a defender with him. I was waiting on Zaza and saw him coming. I knew the defender had to do something.”
Iguodala was subtly brilliant throughout, taking a mere four shots in his 24 minutes of play but crafting nine assists. His final dime was nearly as impressive as his earlier pass to end the half, with a patient, perceptive assist through traffic that hit Briante Weber in stride for a layup.
Speaking of Weber, that would be his last basket as a Warrior. After the game, Golden State coach Steve Kerr informed attending media that he would be cut to make room for a free-agent point guard.
“We told him just this second, and it was a very difficult thing to do because we really like him,” Kerr said. “He can play in this league, and he did a nice job for us, but we’re going to go in another direction.”
Weber has shown flashes of impressive speed and defensive anticipation in his few Warriors minutes.
Curry, who visited Weber’s locker on the way out, said, “I just told him I appreciated his attitude and effort and what he brought to us for the last 20 days. Hopefully he lands on another team pretty soon, because he has a lot to offer this league.”
“He’s going to be around for a long time,” Curry said later about Weber.
This night was most memorable for Weber’s swan song; Curry intercepting and helping a fan contestant's bowling attempt at prize money; and little else.
This was a sleepy kind of victory over an overwhelmed team, perhaps most notable for Green’s aforementioned reduced minutes. He finished 1-of-10 in only 23 minutes and was held from all relevant fourth-quarter action. Not only was his shot off during the game, but he was jogging back on a few defensive possessions and did not appear wholly locked into the proceedings. At a timeout break in the first quarter, Green entered the coach’s huddle for a lengthy conversation with Kerr during a segment in which coaches are usually conferring with one another. The meaning of this might be benign, but Green’s lack of involvement was odd considering Durant’s absence.
Of Green’s benching, Kerr said, “Just wasn’t his night,” without elaborating.
When asked for more details, Kerr said, “Things weren’t going well, so we just went with a different rotation, different lineup. It just seemed like a night for that. McAdoo came in, gave us good energy. It was no big deal.”
Perhaps Kerr was just experimenting, and perhaps Green just didn’t have it. Whatever the reason, the Warriors didn’t need their best to easily best the Nets.